


Crimson Cost

by Catw00man



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Canon Compliant, Community: fma_fic_contest, Gen, Madame Christmas Girls, Mild Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-04
Updated: 2013-01-04
Packaged: 2017-11-23 14:11:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/623039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catw00man/pseuds/Catw00man
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Information gathering comes with many risks, this night’s price is only one of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crimson Cost

**Author's Note:**

> I was so blank when we got this prompt. But then I’d promised to use a friends name in a fic and somehow this came out of it! Hope it works, it’s my first time writing Chris. 
> 
> Written for the [fma_fic_contest](http://fma-fic-contest.livejournal.com) where it took 2nd place for the prompt: _Horror_  
> 

  


  
Blood is smeared across the cracked mirror along with a lone hand print, silently asking for help that never came. Screams aren’t common in this part of the city, but with the clientele this place sees, cries for help fall on deaf ears. What goes on behind these doors stay behind these doors, even now.

Her face is beaten beyond recognition, but she knows all her girls by more than just their faces. Small jade earrings dangle from her ears and provide a mocking adornment to the gruesome sight. They were a gift to her last winter. A perfect fit since she shared the same name as the rare, pale stone and Jade never went without them. Her neck, blackened with multiple sets of over lapping bruises shows no trace of the matching necklace. They’ll need to search the room. It was a gift from her mother and she shouldn’t be laid to rest without it.

“Madame, should we-should we call the police?”

“No.” Her voice is clipped as she looks to the three wide-eyed girls who came with her to deal with this horror. “They won’t do a damn thing to help her now. They wouldn’t even lift a fucking finger when she was alive.” Chris scans the room and spots the broken necklace between the dresser and the bed. She picks it up, ignoring the blood and slips it in her pocket. Jade wanted to help so much. Too much. That’s how she ended up here.

Vanessa uses the comforter to wrap her up like a broken doll and Chris searches the rest of the room. She told Jade General Campbell wasn’t one to be messed around with. He had a reputation for violence, particularly toward women…just like Jade’s father. Chris looks back to see Vanessa and Caroline gathering up their bundle to take out the back and she wonders if there was a similar scene when Jade’s mother lost her life. The military and the police never have cared about helpless women. That’s exactly why Chris does.

“Madame, couldn’t we contact…the Colonel?”

Chris whips her head around to see Madeline standing in front of the dresser, still obviously stunned and wringing her hands. Chris shakes her head. “He doesn’t need to know about this.” Madeline nods quickly then goes to help the other girls. It’s only then Chris notices the smear beneath the hand print on the mirror looks almost like an arrow. She walks over to the dresser, narrows her eyes and sure enough there’s something shoved in the crack where the mirror and dark wood meet.

Chris carefully pulls out the bloody scrap of paper and shakes her head. It only says one word, but it seems Jade was able to get something out of the old General after all. Hopefully her boy will be able to put it to use. Chris fists her hand around the priceless scrap of information and closes her eyes. “You’re our one best hope Roy-boy.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and concrit are always loved and appreciated. :-)


End file.
